.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Emblematic of the French influence on both the cultural and political life of the Italian states in the Napoleonic era, these consoles are a fascinating example of the personal taste of Elisa Baciocchi (1777-1820), sister of Napoleon and Princess of Lucca-Piombino.
Carved from pure white Carrara marble decorated with rosettes, laurel wreaths and swags on stop-fluted column legs, these consoles elegantly recall the symbolism of ancient Rome. They were designed in around 1806 for the Villa Reale di Marlia, Elisa Bonaparte’s country residence in her principality of Lucca and Piombino in Northern Italy as part of a large-scale restoration led by the Parisian architect Pierre-Théodore Bienaimé (1765-1826). The quarries of Carrara were at the edge of Elisa’s fiefdom and she was passionately engaged in the promotion of this ancient and precious export. In 1810 Elisa constructed a new palace to house the Académie des Beaux Arts in Carrara and she heavily utilised the material in her works at Lucca and Marlia, as demonstrated by these two pairs of tables. Elisa’s success in this endeavour was reflected by the increased income of the quarry. Her similar success in propagating her taste to the rest of the Imperial court is illustrated by the related fireplace of Carrara marble in the Egyptian room of Napoleon’s residence in exile, the Villa San Martino on Elba. The proximity of Carrara to Marlia meant that many of the marbles in the Villa were carved on site from larger blocks, these consoles included. The comprehensive artistic vision for the villa's decoration can also be seen by fireplaces of a related design in some bedchambers of the villa. They are also of demi-lune form and, with some minor variations, have similar fluted columnar legs to the present consoles (illlustrated E. Schlumberger, 'Un palais décoré par Elisa Bonaparte', Connaissance des Arts, August 1957, vol. 66 pp. 50-51). The consoles remained in the villa until the 21st century and were photographed on the first floor antechamber of the residence in 1957 when Marlia was home to Countess Pecci-Blunt.
ELISA BONAPARTE
Elisa Baciocchi was the most powerful of the female Bonaparte siblings and the only one personally invested with political power. The eldest daughter of the Bonaparte family, Elisa was educated at the Saint-Cyr academy for impoverished noble girls and in 1797 married the Corsican captain Felix Bacchiochi. On her brother’s ascendancy to first consul Elisa moved to Paris and established a noted literary salon. On 18 March 1805 Elisa was made an Imperial Highness and received the principality of Piombino with her husband receiving the principality of Lucca in the same year, a domain over which she alone wielded power. In 1809 she was made Grand Duchess of Tuscany, thus assuming one of Europe’s greatest cultural legacies. In the image of the Imperial court in Paris, Elisa undertook a programme of modernisation and improvement in Lucca, reforming the legal system, establishing a Banque Elisienne and most of all patronising the arts. With a particular focus on sculpture and works in marble, Elisa promoted the careers of numerous sculptors, among them Canova and Bartolini. In 1814 during the war of the Sixth Coalition, the allies forced Elisa to flee Lucca and in 1820 she died in exile near Cervignano. At her death Napoleon described her as ‘a woman of a masterly mind’.
THE VILLA REALE DI MARLIA
A long-time residence of noble and mercantile families, the Villa Marlia was acquired by Elisa Bonaparte along with the neighbouring Archbishops’ Palace in 1805. The princess undertook extensive modifications employing a number of Italian artists under Bienaimé’s direction. In both the interior and exterior of the villa Elisa sought to ‘Romanise’ her surroundings with the aesthetic grammar of antiquity as her overarching guide. As well as commissioning Parisian furniture in the Empire taste she made use of local cabinetmakers, creating in the words of Schlumberger, "an Empire style 'à l'italienne'". Her excellent taste was summed up by Metternich who when visiting the villa after Elisa’s fall in 1815 described it as ‘véritablement divin’ ('truly divine'). The villa subsequently passed through a number of Royal dynasties including the Dukes of Parma, Grand Dukes of Tuscany, Victor-Emmanuel of Italy and finally Charles-Ferdinand of Bourbon-Sicily until the villa was purchased in 1918 by the count and countess Pecci-Blunt who restored the villa to its appearance under Elisa Bonaparte. Anna Pecci-Blunt (1885-1971) was born into a family of old Italian nobility and was the great-niece of Pope Leo XII, who oversaw her education. She married the American Cecil Blumenthal in 1919 and the couple were made a Count and Countess in the papal nobility, renaming themselves ‘Pecci-Blunt’. The couple first resided in the hôtel de Cassini at 32 rue de Babylone, Paris and established themselves as great society hosts. They later purchased the Villa Reale di Marlia and a palazzo in Rome and were unique in their ability to mix the Roman ‘Black Nobility’, the international jet set and notable figures from the art and cultural spheres in their social gatherings. The countess herself founded art galleries in Rome and New York and patronised artists like Dali and Modigliani.
Emblematic of the French influence on both the cultural and political life of the Italian states in the Napoleonic era, these consoles are a fascinating example of the personal taste of Elisa Baciocchi (1777-1820), sister of Napoleon and Princess of Lucca-Piombino.
Carved from pure white Carrara marble decorated with rosettes, laurel wreaths and swags on stop-fluted column legs, these consoles elegantly recall the symbolism of ancient Rome. They were designed in around 1806 for the Villa Reale di Marlia, Elisa Bonaparte’s country residence in her principality of Lucca and Piombino in Northern Italy as part of a large-scale restoration led by the Parisian architect Pierre-Théodore Bienaimé (1765-1826). The quarries of Carrara were at the edge of Elisa’s fiefdom and she was passionately engaged in the promotion of this ancient and precious export. In 1810 Elisa constructed a new palace to house the Académie des Beaux Arts in Carrara and she heavily utilised the material in her works at Lucca and Marlia, as demonstrated by these two pairs of tables. Elisa’s success in this endeavour was reflected by the increased income of the quarry. Her similar success in propagating her taste to the rest of the Imperial court is illustrated by the related fireplace of Carrara marble in the Egyptian room of Napoleon’s residence in exile, the Villa San Martino on Elba. The proximity of Carrara to Marlia meant that many of the marbles in the Villa were carved on site from larger blocks, these consoles included. The comprehensive artistic vision for the villa's decoration can also be seen by fireplaces of a related design in some bedchambers of the villa. They are also of demi-lune form and, with some minor variations, have similar fluted columnar legs to the present consoles (illlustrated E. Schlumberger, 'Un palais décoré par Elisa Bonaparte', Connaissance des Arts, August 1957, vol. 66 pp. 50-51). The consoles remained in the villa until the 21st century and were photographed on the first floor antechamber of the residence in 1957 when Marlia was home to Countess Pecci-Blunt.
ELISA BONAPARTE
Elisa Baciocchi was the most powerful of the female Bonaparte siblings and the only one personally invested with political power. The eldest daughter of the Bonaparte family, Elisa was educated at the Saint-Cyr academy for impoverished noble girls and in 1797 married the Corsican captain Felix Bacchiochi. On her brother’s ascendancy to first consul Elisa moved to Paris and established a noted literary salon. On 18 March 1805 Elisa was made an Imperial Highness and received the principality of Piombino with her husband receiving the principality of Lucca in the same year, a domain over which she alone wielded power. In 1809 she was made Grand Duchess of Tuscany, thus assuming one of Europe’s greatest cultural legacies. In the image of the Imperial court in Paris, Elisa undertook a programme of modernisation and improvement in Lucca, reforming the legal system, establishing a Banque Elisienne and most of all patronising the arts. With a particular focus on sculpture and works in marble, Elisa promoted the careers of numerous sculptors, among them Canova and Bartolini. In 1814 during the war of the Sixth Coalition, the allies forced Elisa to flee Lucca and in 1820 she died in exile near Cervignano. At her death Napoleon described her as ‘a woman of a masterly mind’.
THE VILLA REALE DI MARLIA
A long-time residence of noble and mercantile families, the Villa Marlia was acquired by Elisa Bonaparte along with the neighbouring Archbishops’ Palace in 1805. The princess undertook extensive modifications employing a number of Italian artists under Bienaimé’s direction. In both the interior and exterior of the villa Elisa sought to ‘Romanise’ her surroundings with the aesthetic grammar of antiquity as her overarching guide. As well as commissioning Parisian furniture in the Empire taste she made use of local cabinetmakers, creating in the words of Schlumberger, "an Empire style 'à l'italienne'". Her excellent taste was summed up by Metternich who when visiting the villa after Elisa’s fall in 1815 described it as ‘véritablement divin’ ('truly divine'). The villa subsequently passed through a number of Royal dynasties including the Dukes of Parma, Grand Dukes of Tuscany, Victor-Emmanuel of Italy and finally Charles-Ferdinand of Bourbon-Sicily until the villa was purchased in 1918 by the count and countess Pecci-Blunt who restored the villa to its appearance under Elisa Bonaparte. Anna Pecci-Blunt (1885-1971) was born into a family of old Italian nobility and was the great-niece of Pope Leo XII, who oversaw her education. She married the American Cecil Blumenthal in 1919 and the couple were made a Count and Countess in the papal nobility, renaming themselves ‘Pecci-Blunt’. The couple first resided in the hôtel de Cassini at 32 rue de Babylone, Paris and established themselves as great society hosts. They later purchased the Villa Reale di Marlia and a palazzo in Rome and were unique in their ability to mix the Roman ‘Black Nobility’, the international jet set and notable figures from the art and cultural spheres in their social gatherings. The countess herself founded art galleries in Rome and New York and patronised artists like Dali and Modigliani.